Decrying the loss of a recently discontinued car-pool lane for Valley commuters headed home from the Westside over the Sepulveda Pass, Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce officials are asking the city to restore the lane and make it available to all motorists. Chamber President Jeff Brain said Wednesday that he would call on Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavksy for assistance in getting the lane back. "This was really beneficial to Sherman Oaks residents," Brain said.

Ultimately, it was those little orange traffic cones that may have brought the car-pool lane on Sepulveda Boulevard to a dead end. The cones were used to create a northbound lane for about a mile on the southbound side of the street where it crosses Sepulveda Pass, giving homeward-bound car-poolers and buses an unobstructed drive from the Westside into the San Fernando Valley every weekday afternoon.

Ultimately, it was those little orange traffic cones that may have brought the car-pool lane on Sepulveda Boulevard to a dead end. The cones were used to create a northbound lane for about a mile on the southbound side of the street where it crosses Sepulveda Pass, giving homeward-bound car-poolers and buses an unobstructed drive from the Westside into the San Fernando Valley every weekday afternoon.

Having grown up on the Westside, I have an intimate acquaintance with, and love for, the area. Everyone I know is aware that Sepulveda Boulevard between Pico and Santa Monica boulevards has for many years been home to not one but numerous animal hospitals and kennels (Times, Feb. 14). As the community expanded, those businesses were welcomed, approved by law, and successful. I have known Martha Wyss, the AM & PM Dog Kennel manager, for a long time and can attest that she is a woman of great integrity, with an impressive background of experience in caring for our pets.

On the last weekend to register to vote before the Nov. 3 election, San Fernando Valley Democrats walked two major streets Saturday urging people to stop at street-corner registration booths and sign up to cast ballots.

So few motorists are using an innovative high-occupancy vehicle lane on Sepulveda Boulevard that it may be eliminated soon, Los Angeles officials said Tuesday. The lane, which runs northbound every weekday from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley, carried 17% of the road's traffic when it was established in June, 1991. That number has dropped to 12%, Los Angeles Department of Transportation officials said.

Employees of four motels along Sepulveda Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and Sepulveda were cited for renting rooms to prostitutes in an undercover sting operation that owners and managers characterized Thursday as unfair and dishonest. Los Angeles vice officers said they specifically told motel clerks that they were renting rooms to use with prostitutes, but some motel owners said their employees do not understand English well enough to know what the officers meant.

Los Angeles transportation officials on Thursday initiated a weekday program to reverse a traffic lane on Sepulveda Boulevard each afternoon, speeding the flow of commuters homeward-bound from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley. But vehicles carrying only the driver are barred from using it. One normally southbound lane was reversed for a mile between Mountaingate and Mulholland drives, creating a temporary third northbound lane between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. "It's a great idea.

Los Angeles transportation officials Thursday initiated a program to reverse a traffic lane on Sepulveda Boulevard each afternoon, speeding the flow of commuters homeward bound from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley. But they barred vehicles carrying only the driver from using it. One normally southbound lane was reversed for a mile between Mountaingate and Mulholland drives, creating a temporary third northbound lane between 3 and 7 p.m.

In an effort to ease the commute home for San Fernando Valley motorists, a one-mile stretch of southbound Sepulveda Boulevard near Mulholland Drive will be restricted to northbound car-pools and buses on weekday afternoons beginning next Thursday, Mayor Tom Bradley announced Wednesday. The pilot program, the first of its kind in Los Angeles County, is aimed at inducing motorists to join car-pools or ride buses.